Weather troubles shortens Cross Alps Tour stop in Arosa

12 December 2017 22:38

Cross Alps Tour Arosa -

GEPA Pictures

Arosa (SUI) - There was more bad luck lined up for the 2017 Audi FIS Ski Cross Alps Tour on Tuesday night in Arosa (SUI), as the second competition in a row was forced to be cancelled due to the inclement weather that has been hovering over the Alps for the past week.

The qualification round for the Arosa competition took place in the early afternoon on Tuesday after heavy winds forced the its postponement from Monday. And though that successful qualification round and a spirited public heat selection soon after it carried great promise into the evening, the sudden onset of a heavy snowfall threw everything that the organizers and officials could handle, and more, and after four challenging heats of the men’s eight finals the decision was made to call off the rest of the competition.

However, because the qualification phase of the competition was completed successfully for both men and ladies, according to FIS rules a final result was able to be rewarded to based on the qualification rankings.

So, following from this, Tuesday became a huge day for the Swedish squad, with Sandra Naeslund taking her second victory in a row, and her teammate Victor Andersson being awarded the first victory of his World Cup career.

Heidi Zacher (GER) followed up Naselund in second on the ladies side for her second runner-up result in a row, while Brittany Phelan (CAN) would take third, for her first career podium.

On the men’s side it was Kevin Drury (CAN) taking second place for another career-first podium on the day, while Victor Oehling Norberg stepped up to make it three out of a possible six podiums on the night for the Swedes.

With their performances on Tuesday, Naeslund and Andersson now both sit atop the standings of the Cross Alps Tour, with Naeslund’s 200 points putting her 40 clear of Zacher, and Andersson’s 109 points just nine marks ahead of Chris Delbosco.

From Arosa, the 2017 Audi FIS Ski Cross Alps tour moves on quickly to Montafon (AUT), where the next competition of the tour is slated to take place on Friday 15 December, with finals scheduled to take place at 10:30 CET.